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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Review- The Homing Pigeons... by Sid Bahri

Goodreads Summary:

In the middle of the catastrophic 2008 recession, Aditya, a jobless, penniless man meets an attractive stranger in a bar, little does he know that his life will change forever…..When Radhika, a young, rich widow, marries off her stepdaughter, little does she know that the freedom that she has yearned for is not exactly how she had envisioned it…..They say Homing Pigeons always come back to their mate, no matter where you leave them on the face of this earth. Homing Pigeons is the story of love between these two unsuspecting characters as it is of lust, greed, separations, prejudices and crumbling spines.

First off, the title. Pigeons are beautiful and home is beautiful so it is such a beautiful title for the book.

Secondly, the cover. It is safe to say the cover is not only one of the prettiest, but definitely the most prettiest cover I have seen on an Indian novel so far.

Thirdly, the tagline. "Not all love stories are perfect, but then, neither are people." How much truer can the statement get? I agree with it and love it, hands down.

Lastly, the summary. Even though I normally don't read summaries, this one was short, to the point- few lines that had me imagining one thing in my head and giving me another thing altogether in the book. Like my fellow blogging buddy Ankita @ Booklok Coffee says in her review of The Homing Pigeons..., even attempting to write a brief summary of the book in my own words is very risky without giving away spoilers and I don't even know what can be considered as spoiler and what cannot. So I will just stick to what I liked about the book and what I did not, of which, the former weighs more than the latter. I read quite a few Indian Contemporaries here and there and while I enjoy most of them, I simply can't relate to some of them. Among all the Indian Contemporary Romances, The Homing Pigeons... was, by far, the most beautifully written novel. Author Sid Bahri's writing is simply beautiful. In his debut novel, the author has nailed the impressive and exceptional art of captivating the reader by his sheer words, lines sentences and paragraphs- in short, his writing, which is truly commendable. The story takes place in a span of some ten to fifteen years going from past to present and back and forth between the points of views of the two protagonists, Radhika and Aditya. Both their voices were clearly illustrated and put down in a clean, clear, nice and neat manner.As a story, The Homing Pigeons... is a warm and wonderful tale of two beautiful and broken people, who, because of the wicked games that destiny loves to play, cannot be together and yet, those same wicked games are what make their paths cross. Both Radhika and Aditya were well depicted, strong and a little frenzied characters. When I started reading the book, I had no idea what was going on and how the two voices were even related. But eventually, everything just fell in place flowingly. Radhika's past was pitiful and she grows up to be a strong woman made up from layers and layers of circumstances, experiences and situations. While I found her side of the story too much to take in, I loved seeing how she went through everything that she went through without creating a scene and taking life as it came. Aditya, on the other hand, I really, really liked. I really liked reading his point of view. He had his reasons for everything he did at every point in his life and God, he was just too good. A lot can be said about both Radhika and Aditya, but again, there comes the peril of giving away the whole story. I loved this love story which interwove and tied the two ends of the same thread in an intricate knot. The Homing Pigeons... was truly a beautiful and sensational novel that goes beyond the pretty cover. It is an articulately written novel about life and love and how, no matter where life takes us, we always find ourselves going back to what we love. I could have easily given the book full 5 on 5 owls, but yes, the story and characters for me, in the Indian context, were too much to take in, but that writing... That did it and had it all.

This book was on your WOW or some other meme. I remember seeing the cover and wanting to read it. I agree with you points - I want to read the book because of them and now I want to read it even more as it sounds really great :) Both characters (I won't even try to spell their names) sounds wonderful and I thing I'd cry my heart out for them. Wonderful review Sarika :)

Hahaha! I had put up a teaser from it for my Teaser Tuesday post. The characters, Radhika and Aditya, and particularly their story do make you cry your heart out for them. I don't know how, but I really hope you get to read the book soon. Thank you, Tanja! :)

I LOVE the meaning behind the title! It's so clever! I haven't read any Indian fiction besides the first three books by Chetan Bhaget (<-- I hope I spelled it right), so I don't really know what to expect. But that cover is gorgeous and you love it, so I'd have to check it out. Thanks for the awesome review, Sarika!

Oh, after reading your review, I just want to read this book! Like Aman said, besides Chetan Bhagat (and one Salman Rushdie, but I don't know if that counts as Indian), I haven't read muvh Indian fiction. Maybe I should start with this. =)

Yes, Salman Rushdie counts as Indian, I suppose. This was close to Chetan Bhagat, but definitely more profound. I hope you get to read the book sometime because it's a great addition to the previous Indian authors you've read. :)

Am not very big fan of fictional novels but truly the cover and the title are attracting me to go for this and specially after going through your review + the interview by Sid Bahri, i couldn't resist myself reading this one. Thanks for the lovely review.

I have to agree with you the cover by far is the most prettiest cover for an Indian Novel. And from I after reading your review I am actually excited to read this as it sounds like a wonderful read by an Indian Author, and maybe after reading this I might get another favourite Indian author :)